1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alarming apparatus of a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to an alarming apparatus for a vehicle such as an automobile including electrical equipment, doors, windows, a parking brake, a transmission and the like, wherein an alarm is raised upon detection of a predetermined undesired state being established on these devices after the vehicle is used, thereby to ensure that a driver brings such devices in a predetermined desired state.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As an example of a vehicle, an automobile can be classified as an engine automobile including an engine as a prime mover, an electric automobile including a motor as a prime mover, and a hybrid automobile including both an engine and a motor and adapted to be selectively driven by either of them. Such vehicles are provided with various types of electrical equipment for the purpose of safety of running of the vehicle. By the electrical equipment here, various types of lamps, for example, are meant which can be enabled or used as desired even after the so-called key switch for enabling the drive operation of the vehicle is turned off. Such lamps comprise headlights, sidelights, parking lights, turn signal lights, and so on. The electrical equipment is energized by a storage battery. However, if and when a driver neglects to turn off any one of the switches for such lamps when he leaves the vehicle after he ends the drive of the vehicle, the corresponding lamp is kept continually turned on, whereby the electric power is undesirably consumed. As a result, the storage battery could be overdischarged and problems could occur that a starter motor, a drive motor and the like are not started, the electrical equipment is not operative, and so on, when a driver is about to drive the vehicle next time. Therefore, it becomes necessary to provide an alarm to notify the circuit for the elctrical equipment being not turned off, for the purpose of preventing the electrical equipment circuit from being not turned off.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional negligence alarming apparatus for alarming negligence to turn off a curcuit of the electrical equipment. Referring to FIG. 1, an outline of a conventional negligence alarming apparatus will be described. A series connction of a headlight 121 and a switch 122, a series connection of a sidelight 131 and a switch 132, and a series connection of a parking light 141 and a switch 142 are connected in parallel to a storage battery 11. Although not shown, other series connections of other various lamps and switches for switching the circuits of these lamps may be further connected in parallel to the storage battery 11, as necessary. The junction of the switch 122 and the headlight 121 is connected to the anode of a diode 123. Likewise, the output terminals of the switches 132 and 142 are connected to the anodes of the diodes 136 and 143. The cathodes of the diodes 123, 133 and 143 are commonly connected to one terminal of a buzzer 15. The other end of the buzzer 15 is connected through a seat switch 16 to the ground.
In operation, if and when a driver sits on a driver seat, the seat switch 16 is opened. Therefore, even when any one of the switches 122, 132 and 142 is closed to turn on the corresponding lamp when the vehicle is in a driving operation, the buzzer 15 is not energized and hence no alarm is raised. On the other hand, when the driver leaves the driver seat, the seat switch 16 is closed. If and when the driver neglects to open any one of the switches 122, 132 and 142, a voltage is applied from the storage battery 11 through the switch, say 122, which the driver neglected to open, and the corresponding diode (123) to the buzzer 15. As a result, the buzzer 15 is enabled to raise an alarm, whereby the driver is notified of his negligence to turn off a curcuit for some electrical equipment.
Generally such buzzer 15 has been hitherto provided inside the vehicle. Therefore, according to such conventional negligence alarming apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, it could occur that when a driver leaves the vehicle to go outside upon failure to hear the alarm or without noticing the same the buzzar can be hardly heard from outside the vehicle and it is particularly so after the door is closed. Thus, there was some difficulty in completely preventing such negligence to turn off a circuit of electrical equipment. An alternative approach can be thought of in which an alarm is raised toward the outside of the vehicle utilizing a klaxon of the vehicle. However, since the sound of a klaxon is too large, utilization of a klaxon causes a trouble of too large a noise to the people in the neighborhood.
On the other hand, apart from the elctrical equipment described above, the vehicle usually comprises various auxiliary devices performing auxiliary functions of the vehicle, such as doors, windows, a parking brake, a transmission, and the like, in addition to a principal scheme for driving the vehicle. In leaving the vehicle, if and when a driver neglects to completely close the door, the window, and the like, there is a much possibility of a theft. Accordingly, it is necessary to raise an alarm also in the case where negligence to close a door, window and the like occurs. Even in such a case, if an alarm is provided inside the vehicle so as to be raised when a driver leaves the vehicle without completely closing a door, such alarm can not be noticed by the driver in most cases. Furthermore, if a driver neglects to put a parking brake on n leaving the vehicle, an extremely dangerous situation occurs that the vehicle starts running undesirably and it is particularly so when the vehicle is parked on a slope. Therefore, it is also necessary to raise an alarm to the driver, when he neglects to put a parking brake on in parking the vehicle.
Meanwhile, apart from the usual cases where vehicles are owned by drivers themselves, for example, a rental system of vehicles has also been proposed wherein the vehicles are rented for any unspecified drivers. In such a retal system, the above discussed various problems are much more aggravated, inasmuch as the above described negligence to turn off a circuit of electrical equipment, negligence to completely close a door, and so on are more liable to occur. More specifically, in such a rental system the vehicles are still in the custody of the driver even when the driver ends his use of the vehicle and he leaves the vehicle. In such a situation, unless a driver turns off the switch of the electrical equipment after his usage of the vehicle, the circuit of the electrical equipment of the vehicle is kept turned on for a long time period until the next use by a different driver, which results in an overdischarge of the storage battery. Accordingly, in such a rental system, it is much more required to render various devices provided in the vehicle in a predetermined desired condition after the use of the vehicle.
Furthermore, in such rental system, since persons using the vehicle are not such a rental system, since the persons using the vehicles are not specified, there could occur a situation wherein a vehicle is parked with a transmission being rendered in the positions other than the neutral. In such a situation, a different driver using the vehicle next time often misunderstands that the transmission has been changed already to the neutral and depresses an accelerating pedal with such misunderstanding. In such a case, the vehicle abruptly dashes and such situation is extremely dangerous. Accordingly, in such a rental system, it is particularly required that the vehicle is parked while the transmission is returned to the neutral position.